This unsigned Harper’s Weekly cartoon parodies the imperial design
of Napoleon III in Mexico, as he mimics the previous expansionist quest of
Napoleon I.

In 1854, a coalition of Mexican liberals overthrew their country’s
dictator, General Antonio de Santa Ana, to establish a republic. In 1857,
disputes over a new constitution led to a civil war and the establishment of
rival governments. In 1859, the United States formally recognized the liberal
administration of Benito Juárez as the legitimate government of Mexico.
American president James Buchanan sanctioned shipments of war materiel to the
Juárez military, as well as the participation of American mercenaries in the
republican cause. France, Spain, and Great Britain, however, favored the
conservative regime in Mexico. In late December 1860, the liberal forces
defeated the conservatives, and a triumphant Juárez reclaimed Mexico City on
January 1, 1861.

Mexican conservatives then allied with French emperor Napoleon III, who
desired to incorporate Mediterranean states and former Spanish and Portuguese
colonies in the Americas into a French-led federation (giving rise to the
concept of a Latin America). The United States Civil War provided an opportunity
for Napoleon III to intervene in Mexico, and the new republic’s large foreign
debt supplied the excuse. When the Juárez government suspended its debt
payments in 1861, Spain, France, and Britain sent an expeditionary force to
demand redress. Quarrels between the three European powers prompted Spain and
Britain to withdraw, but Napoleon III reinforced French troops and dispatched
them to the Mexican capital.

When this cartoon appeared, French and Mexican armies were in the midst of a
war. The image of Napoleon III crossing Mexico (he was never actually there) is
based on a famous painting of the French emperor’s uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte: Napoleon
Crossing the Saint Bernard (1800-1801) by Jacques-Louis David. In the winter
of 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte and 40,000 French troops crossed the Great Saint
Bernard Pass, one of the highest Alpine passages between Switzerland and Italy,
to surprise and defeat Austrian troops in northern Italy. The ploy’s daring
and danger were captured in David’s romanticized portrait of a windswept
Napoleon Bonaparte heroically astride his rearing white steed. By contrast, this
"Modern Historical Picture" presents a languid Napoleon III
atop a frightened mule, with the emperor oblivious to either the human skulls he
tramples or the deadly chasm before him.

The cartoonist, though, underestimated the chances of (at least initial)
success for the French intervention. In June 10, 1863, French troops occupied
Mexico City, and from there secured most of the central region of the country.
In early 1864, Napoleon III established a puppet regime in Mexico under
Maximilian, the archduke of Austria. By 1865, the French had forced Juárez and
his men to the Mexican-U.S. border.

The monetary and human cost of the intervention, however, aroused opposition
within France. Also, with the end of the American Civil War in April 1865, the
United States government turned its attention to the situation. In May, General
Philip Sheridan led 50,000 American soldiers to face down French troops across
the Mexican border. On the diplomatic front, Secretary of State William Seward
intensified pressure for a French withdrawal. Realizing the futility of the
Mexican morass, Napoleon III agreed in February 1866 to remove his troops, a
task completed in March 1867. President Juárez reestablished Republican
government in Mexico, and had Maximilian executed.